Hon Hai, more popularly known as Foxconn here in the US, has been in the news of late due to a string of employee suicides and suicide attempts over the past year. In the last 5 months alone, there have been 8 successful suicides attempts. Commenting on the matter, Apple spokesman Steve Dowling stated:

We are saddened and upset by the recent suicides at Foxconn. We are in direct contact with Foxconn senior management and we believe they are taking this matter very seriously.

Apple also noted that they were carrying out their own investigation of working conditions at Foxconn to “address these tragic events.”

Foxconn, which manufactures iPads and iPods for Apple, also manufactures devices for a number of other companies such as Sony and HP. The company has increasingly been chastised over reports of poor working conditions and high pressure/low pay working environments.

Not to be insensitive or anything, but given the large number of Foxconn employees, the suicide rate at the company is not out of the ordinary. The working conditions and insanely long workdays, however, are another story.